Wenger went on to say that it's looking unlikely that a deal will be reached for Cole before the end of the month (when the transfer window closes). But at the same time The Times reckon Wenger's told the club to get on and sell him. He claims that whatever's blocking it is not financial, "certainly not our demands", which I have to say is a bit hard to swallow following all the talk about the gap between our valuation and Chelsea's. They are said to have made a "take it or leave it" offer of £17m, a full £8m below what Arsenal are asking, and just half a million more than their opening gambit. It seems that perhaps they've decided that it's time to stop letting people ask more just because it's Chelsea... but it's a strange one to try to put your foot down on given the history. Not only do Arsenal not want to appear to be a selling club, but they also very much don't want to appear to be bowing down to Chelsea, especially when it comes to Ashley Cole.

It's certainly true that our demands shouldn't be the block - if they rate him so highly then why won't they pay? Having said that, I along with I'm sure most Arsenal fans would be quite happy to let him go elsewhere for a bit less... let's not make things too easy for them eh?

Cole himself has said that he's fit and ready to play tomorrow, and that he has no problem with the Arsenal or their fans, and Wenger has said that if he's not sold then Cole will be reintegrated into the squad. And presumably have his image grafted onto the squad photos. Chelsea meanwhile are reported to be looking at Liverpool's Jon Arne Riise or Lyon's Eric Abidal as alternatives, and there are also reports that Inter_Milan and Real Madrid could enter into the race to sign Cole.

Last week Thierry Henry said that he's been trying to persuade Ashley to stay, but Jens Lehmann has come out saying that he doesn't think it'll happen. In fact, with quotes like "I will always remember Ashley as a very good team-mate...", he's talking like Cole's gone already.

Anyway, while Cole's a terrific player, Arsenal will cope with or without him. The only problem would be deciding whether Gael Clichy, Matthieu Flamini, or Justin Hoyte is the one to take over. With Clichy (front runner in other respects), out until October, there's time for one of the others to establish themselves and give Wenger a pleasant problem in the autumn. So the idea that we need to get the Cole situation sorted so as to know whether we need to replace him doesn't quite make sense. We could certainly do with another centre-back though. With Phillipe_Senderos also out till October there's little cover for Kolo Toure and the promising but still (World Cup notwithstanding) inexperienced Johan Djourou. There is of course Pascal Cygan, but apart from that the only centre back in the squad is Matthew Connolly, who's yet to make his first team debut. More likely, Hoyte may end up being used in that position, where he had a couple of good games the season before last.

But we don't believe that the Cole money would be needed for such a buy. We've only brought in Tomas Rosicky this summer so there must be funds available. Whatever happens, it'll be nice when the window closes and maybe we can take a break from all this for a bit.